Impressionist London sale nets £121m

Driven by fresh-to-market works, Sotheby’s Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist art evening sale in London on Tuesday made a combined total of £121,075,400.

This is the second highest total ever for sales in this category in London.

Picasso’s 1932 portrait of Marie-Thérèse, Femme Assise Près D’Une Fenêtre sold for £28,601,250.

Three works on paper by Egon Schiele from the Leopold Museum in Vienna made £14,011,750 over an estimate of £9-£12 million.

They were sold to settle the restitution claim over its 1914 Schiele painting Houses by the Sea.

Claude Monet’s water lily painting Nymphéas avec reflets de hautes herbes, which dates from 1914-17, sold for £9,001,250. The sale drew buyers from around the world.

Red alert for antique buyers

The interior of East Grove House showing the items to be sold in Lyne’s and Lyne’s forthcoming auction.

East Grove House, near Cobh, Co Cork has just been sold and the entire contents of the East Ferry property will be auctioned by Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill on March 2. The catalogue is being prepared but auctioneer Denis Lynes said the sale will be of great interest to collectors of antique furniture and people interested in interiors.

Previous owners include former Lehmans CEO Lewis Glucksman and the German/Irish pop music group The Kelly Family.

Built in the early 1800s it was owned by the Bagwell family until the 1950s. Since then it has had various international and Irish owners.